January 2013 archive

Last night, I was lucky enough to be the stand in “date of honor” to my friend, Jacqueline, who was nice enough to invite me as her dinner guest to Rao’s. She was supposed to go with her hubby but due to an unexpected business trip, the spot was opened up to none other, but moi (thank you, Eric!). Now, if you don’t know, it’s a pretty rare opportunity to dine at Rao’s so, naturally, I jumped at the chance. I also should admit that I was a little skeptical about this place and was expecting that the experience and the food would be over-hyped for what it was. I was wrong. It totally exceeded my expectations. The food was delicious. From the artichokes, to the cold seafood salad, to the meatballs (oh! the meatballs…) to the mouth-watering, melt-in-your-mouth veal chop with hot peppers and finally, to the homemade coffee ice cream…yum! As you can see, we ate our little hearts out. A big shout out to the wonderful staff at Rao’s who made us feel truly welcome (and, if I may add, went as far as arranging a driver to take me home at the end of the evening- amazing).

This weekend, I decided to take it slow. I purposely made a plan to have no plan. I stayed in bed late without feeling guilty. I ran no errands and hardly did any chores. I did things that made me feel good and relaxed. This included going out to dinner, going to the gym, seeing a show and enjoying this yummy, warm nutella banana cake that took almost no effort to make and was simply delish. I hope you all had a fantastic weekend.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup flaxseed meal or freshly grind your own

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup mashed ripe banana

1/2 cup sliced almonds

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup light sour cream

1/4 cup canola oil

3 tablepoons of nutella

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Lightly coat a cake pan with cooking spray and spread batter into pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy!

Last weekend, I managed to squeeze in some time to take a quick overnight trip to Westchester. It’s super close to home; about a one hour car ride, but sometimes it serves as the perfect escape from the city. A friend and I had planned for early evening massages at the Ritz and at the last minute, we decided to stay the night. This allowed for a super relaxed dinner at one of the many local restaurants and some late night cocktails. The next day, after breakfast, it began to snow- I’m talking the quiet, calm, there’s not a single car on the road, big, gigantic, fluffy snowflake kind of snow. And I was loving every minute.